1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to interurban/intracity transporting systems and, more particularly, to a novel system and apparatus incorporating options for presonal-choice travel in which a plurality of individual self-propelled satellite passenger vehicles or cars are selectively combined in a controlled group of vehicles in a transporter vehicle for travelling at a common, uniform speed along a main traffic artery and which are adapted to be diverted or separated from the controlled group at the selection of the driver for each of the individual vehicles or cars at selected stop locations of the transporter vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Man's improved technology has wrought tremendous advantages in many fields, but relatively little has been done in the field of interurban/intracity transporation systems that has practical value. The prior art in the field may be viewed, for the sake of brevity, as consisting of two broad categories - the existing, currently used conventional transporation systems, private and public; and the various experimental and developmental transporation systems proposed for use in the near future.
The first category is comprised of the internal-combustion engine automobile operating on existing street and road networks and subject to various traffic-flow control devices; public transit bus systems, and trolleys, both those operating on rails and the externally powered, so-called trackless trolleys; public, right-of-way, rail transit systems; and public, right-of-way, suspended or straddle-type monorail transporation systems. The second category is comprised of hybrid-type automobiles, powered by various combinations of heat-engines and electric power and drive systems, and electrically driven automobiles receiving energy from batteries and fuel cells, both types proposed for operation on existing public street and road networks; dual-mode transporation systems in which small automobiles or bus-like vehicles, incorporating conventional, electrical, or hybrid propulsion systems, may operate in a self-propelled mode on public street and road networks, or may operate on a guideway, track, or monorail system providing external power and automated traffic-flow controls; dual-mode transporation systems in which the vehicles, in the controlled mode, incorporate means of the creation of, and maintenance of air-cushions for vehicle support, suspension, and/or tracking; tube-type transportation systems in which vehicle motion is achieved by gravity, vacuum, or electrical means, air screws, thrust engines, etc.; and public, high-speed, right-of-way transporation systems comprised of single cars or trains, operating on rails or guideways, supported by wheels, air-cushions, or electromagnetic levitation.
The disadvantages of the prior art, both in existing and proposed transporation systems, are many, however, the most important relate to problems of environmental pollution, lack of provision for personal-choice travel, unsatisfactory economics, and an inherent potential for rapid obsolescence. For example, primary dependence on use of the internal-combustion engine automobile for interurban/intracity travel is a major cause of air pollution, traffic congestion, and noise pollution, and, while a one-for-one conversion to electrically or hybrid powered vehicles may be expected to reduce air pollution, perpetuation of the same private-vehicle use patterns would not alleviate congestion or reduce noise pollution, nor would it reduce constantly increasing requirements for more streets, highways, and parking areas which are expensive to construct, aggravate tax-base problems, and represent poor land utilization. Transit bus and trolley systems also have serious drawbacks, which would not be altogether eliminated by a change to low-pollutant power systems. The most basic problem lies in the fact that transit bus and trolley systems are not flexible enough to be truly responsive to the needs of the individual passenger - they cannot provide personal-choice travel. Characteristically, too, such systems cannot offer a really pleasant travel environment. Consequently, they cannot complete effectively with the private automobile. This leads to underutilization and unprofitable operations.
Right-of-way, rail transporation systems (contemporary and advanced high-speed types), tube systems, monorails, and tracked, air-cushion systems are potentially vulnerable to underutilization, too, because they also cannot compete with the freedom, privacy, and pleasant environment the private automobile offers. However, a far more critical problem is created by the enormous capital outlays needed to acquire rights-of-way and fund the construction of inflexible, single-function, geographically-fixed systems which may quickly be made obsolete by advances in technology, changing use patterns, and changes in population distribution.
Dual-mode transportation systems, based on the use of some type of guideway or track network with external power sources and automated traffic-flow controls, could generally be made flexible enough to provide personal-choice travel, and privacy and a pleasant environment in individual, dual-mode, street/guideway vehicles. Nonetheless, all such systems now in development or proposed also are severely handicapped in practical application by complexity, requirements for expensive rights-of-way, the costs of constructing and operating power distribution systems in the guideway or track to supply external power to the individual vehicles in the guide mode, and the need for some type of mechanical or electromechanical means of assuring that all vehicles using the guideway or tracks are inspected immediately prior to such use to assure their maintenance to uniform mechanical and functional standards to prevent system malfunctions and service interruptions caused by vehicle breakdowns.
Illustrative of these drawbacks in developmental and proposed dual-mode transporation systems is a prior attempt to provide an automatic vehicular monorail transportation system disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,101,677; 3,143,020 and 3,118,392 which generally provide for an automatic vehicular monorail system in which self-propelled vehicles automatically move from station to station with little or no manual control required. Conventional internal-combustion engine passenger vehicles are employed which are modified to include a receiver structure secured to the roof thereof adapted to be detachably engaged with a pick-up member movably carried on a conveyor system. Obviously, such a system encounters a variety of problems and difficulties involving first, the securement of the receiver member onto the conventional car and, secondly, providing a means for stabilizing the car once it has been picked up by the conveying system. Another difficulty resides in the fact that the system is not readily adapted for high speed operation in foul weather environments and the mechanism necessary to effect pickup and detachment of the cars on an individual basis is extremely cumbersome and, in its exposed position, is liable to damage which could cause malfunctions when engaged with the conveyor resulting in system breakdowns and service interruptions. It will also be noted that application of the system entails acquistion of rights-of-way for the monorail and obviously would require substantial capital outlays to build the monorail structure and conveyor mechanism. Furthermore, such a system seriously suffers from a control point of view since no means are provided for varying the spacing between one or more cars once the car has been combined with the conveyor system.
In addition, transporation systems which employ conventional vehicles having internal combustion engines do not alter the serious air pollution conditions existing in major cities. Major modification is required to convert such conventional vehicles for use in automatic control systems wherein programmed processing of a plurality of vehicles is anticipated not only for system flexibility but for safety purposes.
Furthermore, conventional vehicles utilize a rigid frame support that establishes a predetermined wheelbase which fixes the overall length of the vehicle. Therefore, a vehicle may have sufficient wheelbase for roadability but the wheelbase may be too long for storing a plurality of such vehicles is a controlled group. Such a stored group must be as compact as possible so that the group can be accommodated by the transportation system such as when a transporter or carrier vehicle is employed.
Therefore, a need has long been present for a truly practical interurban/intracity transportation system which successfully combines the advantages of mass rapid transit with the freedom of personal-choice travel and the pleasant environment afforded by the private automobile, which is economical, adapted for programmed control and which permits employment of individual vehicles operable in a controlled grouping on a predetermined course or main traffic artery or separately operable as an independent vehicle on conventional roadways and surface streets under its own power.